Ted-Jan Bloemen entered the 2018 Winter Olympics the world record holder in the 10,000 meter speed skate, and was expected to be in a battle for the gold medal in the event with Sven Kramer of the Netherlands.

But there wasn't anyone in Bloemen's rear view as he finished the final heat on Thursday, winning another gold medal for Canada.

Bloemen set a world record in the 10,000 meter speed skate turning in a time of 12:39.77, more than two seconds faster than the previous Olympics record.

“It’s going to take a while for all this to sink in," Bloemen said. "It’s hard to say what’s going through my mind. It’s been very emotional. It’s the biggest stage I’ve ever been on and to win here is the highest you can get.”

His time was also a full 2.21 seconds faster than second-place finish Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands, the defending gold-medal winner.

It had been eight years since Canada qualified for the men's 10,000m, but Bloemen, who was actually born in the Netherlands, gained Canadian citizenship four years ago. While he never found great success skating for the program, he produced the world record in the event in 2015 skating for Canada, and a silver medal in the 2016 World Single Distances Championships. Kramer defeated Bleomen in their only race this past season, setting the stage for what was expected to be a neck-and-neck final heat on Thursday.

But Kramer fell well behind, never a threat to Bloemen, who raced around his 27 laps well ahead of his competitors, winning Canada's second ever medal in the men's 10,000m, the other coming in 1932, a bronze won by Frank Stack.

“We’ve worked towards this competition for so long with my team," Bloemen said. "I’m just so proud of them that we made it happen today. It’s amazing.”

Bloemen had already won a silver medal at these games in the 5,000m event.